ABSTRACT
Like the concept of sustainability itself, social entrepreneurship is another term that means different things depending on who’s doing the defining. In general, however, social entrepreneurship is the application of innovative entrepreneurial strategies to solve pressing social problems. Social entrepreneurship ventures are often nonprofits, but may also be in the private sector, or may be an organizational structure that marries both financial and social goals. An important topic in the current discussion of social entrepreneurship is metrics and measurement. REDF is one organization that has been pioneering research on the topic of social return on investment. Other hot topics in the social entrepreneurship space are: New and emerging sources of funding (patient capital, social venture capital, venture philanthropy, micro-finance) and the opportunities and challenges of scalability (micro-franchising, private–nonprofit partnerships). The Skoll Foundation, Schwab Foundation, REDF, and Ashoka are some of the most prominent organizations working to advance the practice of social entrepreneurship.
